Ohio here, looking for a good (but inexpensive) kit for first build.

Hi everyone, glad I fount this forum... lots of great info! I'm looking to build my first bike and I'm probably going to order a 66cc 2 stroke black motor kit off of ebay. I'm going to be installing it on a v frame mountain bike.

A couple of questions...

Should I go with the original head motor, or the new slant head motor?

I think the all black motor will look better on a red mountain bike than the silver motor, what do you think?

Do you recommend buying the kit of of ebay or from a website instead?

What would be a really good deal for a shipped 66cc slant head motor kit, $130?

Let's see...if you got it at $130.00 with shipping you'd have about the best deal you could find. But I could pay $130 plus shipping and still feel all right about it. In fact, I'd even rather pay one-step higher than cheapest in order to deal with someone reputable.

Black or silver motor? I'm inclined to think that silver would look better with a red bike. But that's a matter of taste and if you like the black, then that's what you should get.

I don't know enough about the slant head to make a recommendation. So I won't even try.

If you still have a tough time choosing one or the other, then my advice would be to flip a coin, let that decide it and get that engine. You're not likely to be sorry. Very, very few people are.

A couple of cautions, though. I think I've heard that an aluminum frame is not a good idea for this use. I've certainly heard that you do not want to drill an aluminum frame for the front engine mount. That frame looks like pretty narrow tubes on the photo. Maybe no drilling will be needed. But I can't help thinking that the downtube must have some girth. If that's the case, you'll want to use an adapter to avoid drilling. A few people here have made their own. You can also get one from sickbikeparts. (one of MBCs sponsors. You can find a link at the left) I have one of their adapters as a matter of fact. But I haven't installed it yet. Still, it's of nice quality and it looks like it'll work just fine.

And any $70.00 bike is just not going to be the strongest. You will want to ride this thing gently. You can get up a bit of speed on smooth pavement, of course. But cool it on rough stuff. With no suspension you just can't ride this thing like a motorcycle or moped. But this shouldn't really steer you away from this bike; I'd be gentle with any bike, no matter how strong and expensive. It's just in the nature of the beast; these are still just bicycles. Riding them hard will cause trouble.

But don't let me sound to morose about it; there's still plenty of scope for riding these machines. My motorcycle days are over, for instance, but I doubt if I'll ever do without a motor assisted bicycle again.

Neo2172, if you are going to buy a new bike for $70 that doesn't look too bad a choice. A word caution:

Check it out or have a bike mechanic check it out, because it is unlikely to have been built by a bike mechanic at Target. Bikes that are improperly assembled are not safe to ride. Brakes and derailleurs have to set up and adjusted properly or they will not function properly and that can get you hurt.